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Friday, June 17, 2011

New Leica lens for Micro Four-Thirds

Panasonic recently announced the launch of this beauty: the Leica Summilux DG 25mm f/1.4 for Micro Four-Thirds cameras. I've got one of those cameras, so I'm very excited to see what this lens can do. I'm very happy with Panasonic's 20mm pancake lens for Micro Four-Thirds. Let's see if Panasonic can outdo themselves with this Leica-branded chunk of glass. Links to samples after the jump!

This is a prime lens, so there's no zoom. But if you know cameras – and Leica lenses – that won't matter to you. Prime lenses often have superior optics (and hence superior image quality).

I'm cautiously optimistic. The lens is only a little longer than the 20mm. At 25mm, it's the equivalent of a 50mm on my camera. So the question is if I really need or want a classic "nifty fifty." It's a little redundant with the 20mm. I'm not sure how useful it will be for me, but for those who don't have the 20mm, this will be a tempting lens indeed.

It's half a stop faster than the 20mm too. That's not a lot. But larger apertures are always welcome.

It's Leica branded. Image quality just might be better than the already excellent Panasonic 20mm if they thought it was worthy of that famous Leica brand. That also means a price premium will probably be slapped on it. Adorama's pre-selling it for $600, which is not cheap, but not out of reach either!

So far, I've sniffed out these sites who have posted samples of photos with the Leica 25mm f/1.4 on Micro Four Thirds cameras. Click here, here, and here.